Obradovich: 'Centrist Movement' looking for 'grown-ups'

Aug. 24, 2013

Chad Brown of Urbandale can looks on as one of the television stations declares Barack Obama as the winner of the state of Ohio during the Iowa Republican Party's election watch party at the downtown Des Moines Marriott on Nov. 4, 2008 / Register file photo

His phone started ringing. Some calls were from Republicans who feel the same way. Some were from conservatives, livid that he was defecting. A few were from people who want to offer him a new political home.

Andy Axel of Davenport was one of the callers. He’s the chairman of a new political organization launching this fall: the Iowa Centrist Movement. It’s part of a national initiative to help elect U.S. senators who might otherwise fall into partisan no-man’s land. The group’s agenda is rooted in the principles of fiscal responsibility, environmental responsibility and social tolerance.

Axel, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, describes himself as a “Jim Leach Republican.” He didn’t find his blend of fiscal conservatism and socially moderate views a good fit with either party. “I’ve been generally pretty dissatisfied with both parties,” he said.

When his old college friend, Charlie Wheelan, wrote a book describing the need for a new political party of the middle, Axel volunteered to help start one. The Centrist Movement has organizers in 13 states, preparing to launch a grassroots campaign this fall. Wheelan is working on raising money — the 501(c)4 had collected about $100,000 as of last spring — and trying to line up some high-profile supporters.

Wheelan, a Dartmouth College public policy professor, was an odd man out in the Democratic Party when he ran for Congress in 2009 in a special election. “I realized it is very hard to get out of the Democratic primary if you hold some of those views which, in my view, are dictated just by math,” Wheelan said in an interview.

Christie Findlay, executive director of the Centrist Movement, described the goal as creating a “gang of grown-ups” to enact change in Washington. “The point is that the party shouldn’t take precedence over your policy,” she said.

Wheelan’s book, “The Centrist Manifesto,” which came out in April, describes a series of issues around which he believes moderates can coalesce. The deficit reduction principles recommended by the Simpson-Bowles commission is a rallying point. Other issues include environmental protection measures, such as a carbon tax, school choice and teacher pay for performance, and social tolerance such as legalizing gay marriage.

Wheelan says ideally the Centrist Movement will emerge as an actual third party, but it also aims to support candidates of any party who fit the mold. “At present, we’re trying to have it both ways,” Wheelan said. People with similar views who want to remain independent, for example, could get organizational support without having to join the Centrist Party.

Third-party movements are common as moths around a flame and even more prone to rapid burnout. I wrote in 2011 about an Iowa-based National Centrist Party that two financial-service employees tried to start in their Des Moines-area living rooms.

Scott Ehredt of Urbandale says he put about 800 hours into the effort but lacked the fundraising ability and network of contacts to promote it and grow the membership. “What I suspect is things will have to get a lot worse before people start to be interested” in working for change, he said.

He now is involved in No Labels, a nonpartisan organization that focuses on identifying and promoting avenues for compromise in Congress. But he indicated interest in learning more about the Centrist Movement.

Brown, who last week had only traded phone messages with Axel, also expressed skepticism about a third-party effort. “That really raised a red flag for me,” he said.

This a more focused effort than most. Wheelan acknowledges the futility of trying to elect third-party candidates in the U.S. House, because of gerrymandering, and the presidency, because of the Electoral College. But, he said, the Senate has some history and opportunity. Electing even three or four senators — or getting some to switch parties — could provide a tipping point to break gridlock, he says.

“I describe it as the craziest idea that makes perfect sense,” he said.

People tend to find the concept reasonable, even if they don’t immediately believe it’s possible, Wheelan said. He quoted Roll Call columnist Morton Kondracke: “This will happen if you persuade people this will happen.”

It’s hard to say if this could be a new political home for Chad Brown, but it might be a haven for some other Iowans. For more information, see www.thecentristmovement.org.